


Ghosts of My Nation's Past

by NekoReecesPieces



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers, Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Personification
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:53:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27607912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NekoReecesPieces/pseuds/NekoReecesPieces
Summary: "The Shimada Clan knew there were many secrets surrounding their beautiful country, but knew better than to stick their necks out and investigate. Some things are better off not knowing. Yet, somehow, Hanzo Shimada knew there was a secret worth knowing. He never told his brother, Genji, about it, yet he felt that something was not exactly hidden about Japan, but lost in plain sight. Two strangers from his childhood ignited this. Two brothers, though seen only once, he could never forget."In the past, Hanzo Shimada met two figures he was sure he would never learn about or meet again. In the present, their memory reappears when it's least expected. Who are they, what are they, and what is their connection to Japan and so many other nations?
Relationships: Genji Shimada & Hanzo Shimada, Jesse McCree & Hanzo Shimada
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written in-between 2016 and 2017, this fic was my baby. My Magnum Opus. Sadly, life happened, school got very busy, and I slowly lost interest in Overwatch. I have considered coming back to this and properly finishing it, but am not entirely sure yet. We'll just have to see how it goes.

Overwatch.  
An organization created to protect.   
Many a nation could thank Overwatch for coming in times of need. But, the question could be asked, how much did Overwatch know about the people they aided, the countries they worked so hard for to bring peace and comfort. How much does the team know, especially about the very nations they were born in, the very nations were they came from.  
The Shimada Clan knew there were many secrets surrounding their beautiful country, but knew better than to stick their necks out and investigate. Some things are better off not knowing. Yet, somehow, Hanzo Shimada knew there was a secret worth knowing. He never told his brother, Genji, about it, yet he felt that something was not exactly hidden about Japan, but lost in plain sight. Two strangers from his childhood ignited this. Two brothers, though seen only once, he could never forget.  
Hanzo didn't know why the two strangers kept popping into his head years later while working at Overwatch, but they did. Two faces he hadn't seen in over twenty years. He didn't know their names (he was a child back then), but even if he did and if he looked them up they probably would have been A: aliases, B: old men, or C: dead. Hanzo pushed these thoughts to the side as he walked out of his personal quarters in Overwatch base. He needed not to be distracted.   
On his way to Mess Hall, Hanzo heard a "Good Mornin'." from behind. Jesse McCree, Overwatch's resident cowboy, jogged to reach his best friend, a smile plastered on his face. Hanzo waited for him to catch up. McCree clapped a hand on Hanzo's shoulder. "You ok, partner? Ya look like ya've seen a ghost." Hanzo mentally berated himself. He didn't want anything to seem out of the ordinary, or worse, cause someone to worry over nothing.  
"It's nothing." Hanzo said quickly. A little too quickly for McCree's taste. His grip tightened on Hanzo's shoulder.   
"You sure?" he said as he looked Hanzo dead in the eye. Hanzo looked away, unsure if to tell or not. No one else was in the hallway, so he deemed it safe.   
"Have you ever," Hanzo started out, "have you ever seen a person and never forgotten them even though you have never spoken?"   
McCree took his hand off of Hanzo to stroke his beard in a thinking gesture. He felt, well, honored that the normally stoic samurai that he called best friend was opening up to him. He didn't want to mess it up. "Well, guess I have." he said after a moment of thought. "Two fellers that worked on my daddy's ranch fer a few days. Never really talked, but never forgot 'em either." Hanzo's eyes widened slightly. "Now, if it's a girl yer talkin' about, I'm sure one of the gals are able..." McCree started before Hanzo shook his head, stopping McCree mid-sentence.   
"Two strangers from my childhood have been in my mind lately. They seemed to have known my father, but I didn't ask how." Hanzo explained. McCree nodded, an understanding look on his face.  
"Seems like you are seein' ghosts, Hanzo. Ghosts of your past."  
Hanzo nodded, mood lifted slightly due to someone understanding just a bit of what he was going through. The moment was interrupted by a young Korean running suddenly through the hall yelling, "I'm going to be late! The game shop only has a few copies left!" to which Hanzo and McCree shook their heads to and headed to breakfast.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for some mild-ish violence, probably wrong Japanese translation, and some destruction-threats toward the middle-end of the chapter.

When Hanzo and McCree reached Mess Hall their conversation was switched to different topics, thus pushing the earlier part of it to the back of their minds. By the time breakfast was over that part of the conversation was nearly forgotten. Hanzo didn't have much time to think as he and a few of the other Overwatch heroes were called to a meeting concerning a new mission for them.   
The mission was to be a get-in-get-out kind of mission where when the team arrived they would get in, search around for illegal wares i.e. drugs, guns, etc., kick butt if butt needed to be kicked, get out, then report their findings back at base. It was pretty much guaranteed something would be found where they were going as the mission was located in Japan near where the Shimada Clan fell. Hanzo's former territory. The team comprised of Hanzo, Genji, McCree, Lucio, D.Va, and Soldier: 76.   
On their way to their destination Hanzo couldn't help but feel uneasy. His earlier conversation with McCree come to the forefront of his mind. He couldn't help but feel like the mission, the conversation, and how he was feeling were somehow connected to something bigger. He just didn't know what or how. All he wanted was to brush it all off, forget about it, and focus on what needed to get done. Genji noticed his brother's discomfort but said nothing. He figured Hanzo would talk when he needed to.  
Hanzo felt more and more uneasy by the second. Even more so when they were dropped off near the destination, which happened to be some sort of underground warehouse. "Stereotypical." McCree murmured when they infiltrated the area and started poking around. It all seemed abandoned with only a few crates and garbage strewn around.   
"Yuuuuck." D.Va visibly cringed as she held up an old fast food wrapper. She quickly dropped it when she noticed it was partially rotting. "Ick!"   
"Yo! You guys, check this out!" Lucio waved the rest of the team over to where he and McCree examined and opened one of the crates. McCree whistled at what was inside it. '76 knocked open some of the other crates, all of which contained enough weapons to keep a crime lord set for a good part of his reign.   
"Talon." '76 stated while examining one of the guns. Talon's insignia was branded on more than a few of the weapons.  
"Looks like someone's been busy," McCree muttered as he looked a rifle over. "Would like to know where they got these."  
"Uh, obviously from Talon." D.Va answered as she looked over another crate.   
"You know what I mean." McCree said as he put the rifle down. Genji looked at Hanzo. It's unknown how many crime lords and bosses were working with Talon, but if Talon 'helped out' one of the bigger, badder clans Japan would be in great trouble.  
"Yameru! Shin'nyū-sha!" A yell came from behind. "Intruders!" A young Japanese man wielding one of the contraband guns yelled, a nervous look on his face. "Shi-Shimada!" He let off a few rounds.  
"Looks like they know we're here." McCree said to Hanzo as they ducked. An alarm went off around them and yelling could be heard deeper in the bunker.  
"Do we call for backup?" D.Va hissed as gunfire increased.   
"No, we got them." '76 responded as he shot back at the Japanese gang. Hanzo nodded at Genji, an understanding passing between them. '76 then nodded at Hanzo, who nodded back, then nodded at McCree, D.Va, and Lucio. Hanzo grabbed two arrows, a Sonic arrow and a Scatter arrow. He fired the Scatter arrow toward the gang members, thus taking most of them out. McCree, D.Va, and '76 took care of the ones still standing. Hanzo then shot the Sonic arrow to reveal where the rest of the gang was deeper inside the bunker. "There's at least twenty of 'em in there." '76 stated. "Genji, take point." The ninja nodded then lead the team deeper into the bunker, throwing his shuriken at the on-coming enemy.   
"There's gotta be something good if there's there's this many in here." D.Va said a bit excitedly.  
"Or something really bad," McCree added, gun blazing.  
Deeper in the bunker there were many doors in the corridor. Hanzo noticed many of the seemingly lower lackies came from the doors closer to the opening, probably to keep whoever happened to stumble in away from anything deeper inside. "Whatever's in here must be important," Hanzo thought as he shot another gang member down. Hanzo felt a pang of pain and sadness, watching so many young men involved in such a cruel life. He was sure the rest of the team felt the same way.  
"We got most of them. Search for whatever they're hiding." '76 ordered. "Keep your guard up." The others nodded in agreement, preparing themselves for anything they might find.  
Hanzo went deeper into the bunker, only three arrows left. He thought it best to search the furthest room first. He peeked in and saw only one guard, but the guard was wearing Talon's symbol. Hanzo used one of his remaining arrows for Scatter arrow incase there was more than one enemy, which successfully took out the guard. Grabbing another arrow, he put it to his bow as he entered the room, searching.  
"Ah, Shimada-dono." a voice said smoothly from across the room. Hanzo quickly fired his arrow but missed, hitting the wall. Hanzo went to grab his last arrow when he heard "Ah, ah, ah. I wouldn't waste that last one."  
"Show yourself where I can see you." Hanzo demanded. A masked figure stepped out from behind a few crates.  
"It's been a while, Shimada-'Dono'." The figure practically spat out the honorific, venom filling his voice, tingeing the cool smoothness of it.  
Hanzo sized up the man standing not too far from him. Brown hair pulled back from the masked face was put in a small ponytail. It was hard to make out the color of his eyes due to the mask's dark eye coverings. A filter seemed to be over the breathing part of the mask.  
The figure was dressed plainly in black. A black blazer covered a long sleeve blackish-grey shirt and bullet-proof vest. Dark knee high boots were over black pants, a band over the right thigh. Hanzo noticed there was something in one of his gloved hands. "I see you've noticed this." the stranger said, raising his hand to show Hanzo what was in. "This," said the stranger, "is a bomb detonator. I take my thumb off the trigger, it goes off. You fire your fancy little bow and shoot through it, it goes off. Also, the bomb's in a pretty populated area. Your choice to take me out or not." Hanzo could tell the figure was probably smirking under the mask due to the smugness of his voice. "I am, however, willing to negotiate for a trade. But, tick-tock, Shimada. I am sure there are people out there that need saving."  
"What is it you want to trade for?" Hanzo asked, the masked person starting to circle around toward the exit.  
"Well, Shimada-'Dono'," the venom again appearing in the honorific, "You have many secrets. Talon knows that. 'I' know that. Trade your loyalty for Overwatch, work with me, and I'll tell you the secrets I know, you tell me what you know, and we make an empire bigger and stronger than anyone ever expected. Who knows, it might even take over Talon itself. Pretty amazing trade, isn't it?" The figure tilted his head, seemingly pleased with himself. He held his empty hand out to Hanzo. "Join me, Shimada?"  
"No." Hanzo grabbed the arrow out of his quiver. "You are outnumbered. You will not win."  
"I thought you were smarter than this." the figure chuckled. "But, all in all, let's play a game, shall we?" It's called," he took his hand off the trigger. "Can Overwatch find the bomb before it goes off?"   
The masked figure gave a mad chuckle as he dashed toward the door, only to be met face to face with Soldier:76. "Oh shoot." he said. "On second thought, no." he added quickly.  
"You're coming with us." '76 stated as he grabbed the other man.   
"Yeah, would love to, but I can't." the figure retorted as he yanked his arm away from '76 and elbowed him in the chest. He whirled his way around '76 quickly, doing what he could to keep out of Hanzo's firing range. He ran toward a room a few doors down, bringing a comm out of his jacket pocket. He peeked his head out at his two pursuers. "Yo," he said tauntingly, "tell Reyes and Lacroix I said hi." Hanzo and '76 ran to the room only to be met by a blast of air. The masked person was hanging off of a rope ladder attached to a helicopter already hovering well off the ground.  
"I can't get a clear shot," '76 shouted over the noise.  
"Ha!" the figure shouted to them. "Just so you know, the name's MacGuffin! Because I Get! Things! Rolling!" The helicopter flew away, the heroes unable to stop it or hit the people in it.  
'76 waited a few seconds, then spoke into his comm. "You guys got that?" he asked.   
"Yep." Sombra's voice was heard over the comm's channel. "Already went through the security feeds and found suspicious activity in the nearby city that says 'bomb planting'. Coordinates are updated, so it might be best for you to get over there."  
'76 looked at Hanzo, then both ran to outside the bunker to awaiting transport.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Yameru - Stop  
> *Shin'nyū-sha - Intruders  
> *-Dono - honorific with higher level respect than "-sama", confers utmost respect, comes from the word "tono" which means "lord"
> 
> .......you can tell how old this is by Hanzo using "Scatter Arrow"   
> Also, when I created MacGuffin I loved how much of a little crap and creep and dramatic he was and how I could use him. He might go through a redesign in the future


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: descriptions of bombings and aftermath of bombings described in this chapter.

"Guys, status update." '76 said over the comm to the team over in the city.  
"Evacuation is in progress and the bomb has been found." Pharah's voice floated over the comm.  
"Uh, Luvs?" Tracer's voice was suddenly heard. "Small problem. You need to get over here quick."  
"What is it?" '76 asked.  
"I may have found a few more bombs and there's still a ton of people around." Tracer replied quickly and worriedly.  
"We'll be there soon." '76 replied. The team in the transport could see the city swiftly approaching. They stopped where Pharah was directing evacuees to transports to safety.   
"We have two of the bombs disabled and there's three left." she said. "We're trying our best but there's still many people that need help getting to safety."  
"Everyone split up." '76 told his group. "Keep your comms on. Lucio, meet up with Mercy. Hanzo, Genji, meet up with Tracer. McCree, D.Va meet up with Symmetra. Ana and Reinhardt should be close by. I'll stay here with Pharah." The team nodded in agreement and ran their respective ways.  
"Great news Luvs! Another bomb disabled and another nearly done!" Tracer popped up right next to them. "Just one left and a few hundred people and we're all clear!" She blinked a few yards ahead. "Come on now!" She ran on ahead to show them the areas that needed help being evacuated.  
The team hurried to direct people to safety. Any injured were directed to Mercy and Lucio. Sometimes the team had to ask Hanzo and Genji for help in translation to tell the people where they were going or to answer a few quick questions.  
Ana's voice was heard a few moments later. "The last bomb has been disabled, but we still need to move the rest of the people to safety just in case." A sigh of relief passed through the team but they knew they couldn't relax just yet. There was still work to be done and they couldn't be sure if the danger was completely passed.  
"Come on, my friends!" Reinhardt roused. "There is still much work we need to do!"  
"Oh, come on." Sombra said over the comm. "I already checked the feeds. How much more do we need to do?"  
A large 'BOOM' was heard a street over, members of the team instantly ducking. "Please tell me that was Junkrat," '76 said. "Please, tell me that was Junkrat."  
"Junkrat's still back at bas...."Lucio started, looking suddenly stricken. "Oh no..."  
"There's still people over there!" Tracer exclaimed. A new sense of urgency came over the team. They started to rush over to the area near the explosion.   
"Careful," '76 cautioned. "Everything's probably unstable and could collapse at any moment. Keep your guards up." Everyone nodded, grunted, or some something in acknowledgment. They just knew they needed to get the people there to safety, free any trapped, help the injured, and just get them out of there. Adrenaline was reaching a high in all of them.  
The team quickly but carefully made it over to where the bomb went off. Things were surreal, almost if frozen in time. People were panicking, some injured, some trapped, others just trying to get away to safety. Tracer and Genji started to help the able to get to safety away from the blast zone, Ana, Lucio, and Mercy helping those injured and partially pinned. Caution had to be taken. Buildings could fall at any moment, trapping any caught below or burying those already stuck. Voices were calling out, some weak and coughing, others strong yet fearful. Part of the team were helping the people whose voices were muffled by fallen debris that almost entombed them.   
Hanzo made his way over to direct some people away from the damaged buildings when his attention was caught by a pile of fallen debris and rubble. He slowly and carefully went toward the pile when he heard soft noises coming from it, like that of a person trapped and calling out. A strange feeling filled Hanzo as he rushed forward toward the pile and, putting his bow to the side, quickly began to dig through it. Whomever was stuck in there Hanzo needed to get out, and soon. Something depended on him to do so. He just didn't know what.  
Hanzo worked swiftly through the debris trying to get the pocket open. When he finally broke through enough to get people out and see who was in there his heart stopped. Two men were found in the pocket, both coughing to get the dust and debris out of their lungs.  
They seemed to be twins, their black hair cut in a bowl-cut bob-like style, although one twin's hair was a shade closer to brown that black. One twin had dark brown eyes, the other's more of a rich cognac. Dirt and rubble covered their clothes and streaked their faces. These men, although dirty and and dressed casually, were the exact mirror images of the two men from Hanzo's childhood, the two brothers he never forgot.  
He stared numbly at them as they slowly made their way out, the black-haired brown-eyed twin leaning on the lighter black-haired cognac twin for support. They stopped for a second in front of Hanzo, looking him directly in the eye for a second. "Arigato." the black-haired twin said humbly, his brother choosing to look on. Both gave a slight bow in thanks. "Thank you." the black-haired twin spoke again, then he and his brother limped off, following the rest of the people to evac. Hanzo nodded a small bow in reply, almost as an afterthought. He looked after them for a moment, watching them blend into the small crowd waiting to be moved to safety.  
"Hanzo?" Genji spoke up not far from where Hanzo was standing, causing him to snap back into reality. "Is something wrong?"  
Hanzo shook his head, trying to clear his mind. "I..." he shook his head again. "It is nothing."   
Genji opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by Soldier:76 calling everyone back to base, their mission completed.


	4. Chapter 4

"What was that out there." It was easy to tell Soldier:76 was not happy. He and the rest of the team made it back to the base safely, but all were still very shaken up over the experience. "I want to know who that guy is and everything we have on him."  
"His name is MacGuffin." Sombra stated as she looked at her screen monitor.  
"And?" '76 waited for her to go on. She turned around in her chair to face him.   
"And that's all I have. I may be the best hacker in the world, but not everything is available on the web or on computers. He knows where to hide."  
'76 looked at Reaper and Widowmaker. "He knew you two. Anything to add?"  
"I barely knew him." Reaper said. "He was there when I was part of Talon, but nobody knew anything about him." Reaper crossed his arms. "He literally is his codename. He appears, starts things, then it's like he never existed."  
"I did not want him as part of us in the first place." Doomfist threw over his shoulder as he looked at various screens with Sombra and Winston.   
"So you know nothing about one of your former employees." Pharah looked at Doomfist, a questioning look on her face. Doomfist turned to look at her.  
"MacGuffin may be extravagant and his motives are almost always unclear, but he is always very smart. He does not reveal things unless he wants them to be known. It wasn't like he was working for Talon, but more like he was using Talon's resources for his own agenda."  
"And now that madman's out there blowing stuff up!" D.Va exclaimed. "Oooh, if I get my hands on that guy I'll...I'll something, that's what."  
Hanzo kept quiet the whole debate, his mind elsewhere.


End file.
